Blessed are you, O Lord, our God, Ruler of the Universe,
for you have kept your promises.
In the beginning, you called for yourself a people and you promised them a home.
Though it took many generations,
and though they were separated from their home by water and a desert,
you brought your people to a good land.
When your people turned away from you,
you promised us you would come among us.
In your Son Jesus we see you and your love,
living and real and for us.
He showed us how to follow you,
eating with sinners, touching the outcast,
loving all.
After his resurrection,
he told us to wait for your calling and your power.
He promised us that you would go with us as we proclaim the good news
that you have triumphed over death,
that love has the last word.
And now we wait to feel again the movement of your Holy Spirit,
giving gifts and expecting us to use them.
We give you thanks for your unending love for us,
and for this table,
where you have prepared a feast.
As we come to this meal, may we be made one with each other and with you.
Pour out your Spirit again on us and on these gifts of bread and wine,
show us a glimpse of your heavenly banquet.
Make this table the meeting place of earth and heaven,
that together we might be strengthened to go out
to be your witnesses in this place and even to the ends of the earth.
We pray in the name of our Risen Lord Christ, who taught us to pray together…

Ever-rising God,
just as you lifted the eyes of the disciples
to the rising Jesus at his ascension,
so lift our eyes to you as we hear your holy word today,
that we too might turn our eyes toward the need of the world
and follow in your way through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.